So far 2012 is the only year inside which I’ve seen so many manufacturers release and announce both network/hdd media players and HTPC solutions which brings about the question which is the best solution for people. Honestly that's not something one can answer mainly because each of us has a different set of needs and requirements so whereas some people just want to watch a movie in which case a network/hdd media player would be the obvious choice others may want to also play games, surf the web, use social sites and a lot more so an HTPC would be a far more suitable solution. Personally i like to have several different devices each ment for a different purpose so naturally I’ll always prefer an good network/hdd media player and an desktop system over an single HTPC (unless of course i couldn't afford both). Today however we will be testing one of the entry-level media players in the market, the aios HD media center by Pivos Technology Group.

Established in Fremont, California, Pivos Technology Group, Inc., is a firm set to challenge the curve of our conversation with technology, redefine and create new breed of devices. Our mission is to breathe innovation, performance and quality into technology products with utmost creative and human engineering. Our products are focused on the emerging market of digital peripherals, where computing technology joins today's rich internet media contents. They all share a common goal to simplify your needs for store, deliver and playback of local, networked, or internet media data. Coupled with latest embedded technology, Pivos offers a range of consumer and commercial applications. Founded by a group of industrial veteran and renowned platform developers, Pivos's decades of industrial and product development experience formed the foundation to our ideas and believes. Infused with multi-cultural corporate infrastructure, we promote out of the box thinking and freedom of concepts. Together we create the perfect team to realize the mission to success.

Pivos announced the release of two network/HDD media players for the period 2011-2012, the aios HD media center which we have here today and the Xios HD media server which should be released by the end of May (and also with us soon). Much like most cost-effective solutions the aios HD media center features the second best HD decoding chipset by Realtek, the RTD1185DD. So since we've used and also tested quite a few solutions based on the RTD1185DD we knew right from the beginning what to expect in terms of video/audio quality from the aios HD media center. However network/hdd media players are a lot more than just their video/audio quality so let's see what Pivos has to offer with the aios HD media center.